The Price of Courage
"The Price of Courage" is the 31st episode of the second season of Exosquad. Summary Phaeton has Shiva take most of what remains of the Neosapien fleets to Venus in a final attempt to destroy the ExoFleet. With the Resolute II undergoing repairs, Admiral Winfield takes a large portion of the fleet towards Earth in an attempt to fool the Neosapiens into thinking an attack is immenent, and therefore withdraw to defend Earth. Shiva calls Winfield's bluff, and proceeds with an attack on the fleet at Venus. An e-frame assault on the Neo fleet fails, but a Fusion Torpedo attack inflicts heavy damage on the Neo fleet. Shiva then personally leads an e-frame assault, but is shot down and dies as the attack fails. Synopsis :Click HERE of a detailed synopsis of " " Characters *J.T. Marsh *Winfield *Wolf Bronski *Rita Torres *Jonas Simbacca *Shiva *Phaeton Quotes *As Jonas and J.T. discuss what they will do after the war ends, Simbacca tells J.T.: ::"There will be fortunes to be made after the war. More wealth than I ever saw as a Pirate. I intend to be one of the most important men in the solar system. And you could be there, with me, at my side. In this war I have trusted men with my life. You, I would trust with my money." *While Simbacca and Marsh discuss strategy for the coming battle: ::Simbacca: "I like the way you think J.T. Marsh. You will command the counterattack." Marsh: "But Simbacca, that's a job for a senior commander." Simbacca: "If you win, no one will complain. And if you lose, there won't be anyone left to complain." *Torres returns to find Bronski telling the ExoScouts some war stories: ::Bronski (to scouts): "Well, once those Neos knew it was Wolf Bronski they were up against, they started running!" Torres: "Bronski!" Bronski (turns): "Hi Sarge. I was just tellin' the boys here a few stories." Torres: "Yeah? Sounded more like fairy tales." *Phaeton's speech to the fleet: "The blow you are about to strike will send the Terran rabble back to the cover of their Pirate hideouts. You will have your revenge for the Terrans' destruction of Mars. I will build a monument to your victory on Venus, and inscribe your names in stone, so that future broods will remember your courage." Significant events, revelations, and other notes *In the below 3 episodes, the flagships are the only targets that truly matter. Once the flagship is destroyed, it is assumed or proven that the rest of the fleet will retreat. **"Miracle" **"Fire Ship" **"The Price of Courage" *In the episodes "Miracle" and "The Price of Courage" Exofleet does not even consider using the GRAF Shield on Venus for defense. Were the Neosapien fleets in those episodes out of range? **Exofleet could have remained in the orbit of Venus and used the GRAF Shield, upgraded by the Neo Megas, to destroy a Neosapien attack. As seen in "Sabotage", the shield can be directed to a target. In "The Embassy" Phaeton says attacking a GRAF Shield is suicide. *The Neosapiens have failed in what was their final chance to turn the tide in the war. **Some ships of the Neosapien fleet did escape, but the majority of the capital ships were destroyed. **None of the Neosapien ships that escaped in "The Price of Courage" are seen in "One Small Step" during the Battle of The Moon. **The episodes "The Price of Courage" and "One Small Step" are similiar to the high cost battles seen in World War II, where defeat meant that one side had lost resources that it could not replace. *Thrax's facial expression continues the character trait seen in "Venus Rising". He no longer believes in Phaeton's leadership and/or the war itself. **Furthermore, Shiva's behavior showed that while he would fight for the Neosapien people, he did not completely support Phaeton. *The differing views of death by Neosapiens. **In "The Price of Courage" Shiva tells Phaeton that he wishes to die as a soldier. **In "Abandon Hope" Thrax tells Galba that living life is more important than worrying about the circumstances of one's death. *The behavior shown by Marsh and the ship's captain is reversed in "Blitzkrieg" and "The Price of Courage". **In "Blitzkrieg" Marsh tells Marcus, the Resolute's captain, that attacking the Neosapien fleet without the Exocruisers and Exofrigates is suicide and openly contradicts his orders. Marcus has him arrested and charged with mutiny. In this episode Marsh's combat experience consists of 2-3 battles against the pirates, who have a medium military. **In "The Price of Courage" Jonas Simbacca, the Resolute II's captain, places Marsh in command of the counterattack. Marsh tells Simbacca that a senior commander should be given the assignment. In this episode Marsh's combat experience consists of multiple battles against the Neosapiens, who have a large military. *Morale is likely very high among the ExoFleet. Confidence in a victorious conclusion to the war is exhibited by both Simbacca and Marsh in their conversation. **Simbacca and Marsh's morale is based on the fact that they have won victories against heavy odds and they know Phaeton is facing mutiny from many of his officers. Furthermore, Simbacca and Marsh are realists and would not engage in self-delusions. **Morale was also high in "The Brood", but it was based on the perception that Exofleet could attack and win. Matthew Marcus and Furlong, the leaders of the mutiny, refused to consider the possibility of defeat. *For all of the anti-Terran propaganda spoken by the Neosapien leadership, many of them have studied terran history. **“A Traitor Among Us”: the shuttle pilots ridicule beliefs such as the sun god and the Tooth Fairy. **“Mindset”: Marsala quotes Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (it should have been Georges Clemenceau). **“The Dream War”, “No Surrender”: Marsala and J.T. Marsh tell Sean Napier about Douglas MacArthur's “I came through and I shall return.” speech after his escape from the Philippines. **“Fire Ship”: Typhonus tells Barca the history of the fire ship and the hellburners. **“The Price of Courage”: Phaeton tells Shiva the story of Julius Caesar and his decision to cross the Rubicon River and march against the capital of Rome. Both Phaeton and Shiva say the quote “The die is cast.” **“The Art of War”: Livia sees art as useful for understanding Terran psychology and psychiatry. **“Fifth Column”, “Abandon Hope”: Phaeton’s bunker has the phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”), which is from Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”. *The producers and writers wrote several parallels to World War II into the series. **“The Price of Courage”: the Neosapien’s last-chance attempt to re-conquer venus was a parallel to the Battle of the Bulge. **“One Small Step”: the desperate and costly battle for the Moon was a parallel to the Battle of Okinawa. **“Fifth Column”: the symbolism of Phaeton’s bunker was a parallel to the Führerbunker. **“The Night Before Doomsday”, “Abandon Hope”: the final major combat action, the Battle of Phaeton City (Battle of Chicago), was a parallel to the Battle of Berlin. *References to Livia’s lack of military and leadership ability. **”Abandon Hope”: Phaeton states he did trust Livia since she never considered mutiny. **”Night of the Traitor”: Phaeton says he trusts Livia since she is willing to report failure. Later she refuses to take Gracchus’s and Lucullus’s Coup d'état seriously. **”No Surrender”: Phaeton tells Livia that she lacks the ability to lie. He also states that she lacks military skill. **”The Art of War”: Livia tells Phaeton that understanding Terran art will allow the Neosapiens to win the war. In the next episode Exofleet wins the Battle of The Moon, which destroys most of the Neosapien E-frames. **”The Price of Courage”: Shiva's death apparently leaves Livia in sole command of the military on Earth, subject to Phaeton's approval. *Phaeton and Winfield agree that war is composed of calculated risks, chances, and gambles. *Shiva, the best of the Neosapien generals, is killed. *What was the general Neosapien population told about the destruction of Mars? Phaeton promises them revenge for its destruction, clearly blaming the ExoFleet. For that matter, he himself probably doesn't know what truly happened, since none of his soldiers there survived. ("Heart of Mars"), ("Heart of Mars" for background info) *During the battle a Neosapien ship destroys another Neosapien ship. This was probably a mistake by the lazy animation team. 44 31